22 Jump Street

By: Robert Murphy

We all know how it goes when a sequel to a hit comedy comes along and of course with a movie like 21 Jump Street raising a few eye brows, the sequel was bound to do the same. 22 Jump Street somehow new that this was going to happen though and let's out jokes at it's own expense, self aware humor is anything new and it can be a little stale but not when it's done right and 22 Jump Street does just that. Our crime fighting partners Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are back fighting crime but it isn't going as well without the same routine as before and after a failed crime sting goes awry, they're put back into similar circumstances once again but in college. The formula remains the same, pretend to be students, new break-out drug with catchy name, infiltrate the school and bring down whoever is responsible. The whole thing though whines up being a meta affair where the jokes go back to the first film about the new film and how it shouldn't be funny and shouldn't work the same way but it does. 

Things should be breaking Schmidt and Jenko's way now that they're renowned detectives who solved a major drug problem, right? Well that's not quite true as they're still both completely incompetent when it comes to police work, as partners they add up to less than one good cop even with Jenko's crazy strength and physcial abilities and Schmidt's know how. This has never been more clear than it is now they worked a major case and failed miserably, so it looks like it's back to college after all just like the last movie suggests. The Jump Street program has drastically changed though since last time, the joke being since the first movie was so good the budget is now super big for this movie and that means cooler stuff. Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) is still large and in charge and must once again babysit his favorite screw ups once again as they go back undercover at a local college that has lost a student to a new drug called WHYPHY.  I want to point out from here that I loved Ice Cube's character this time around, he's always a bit of a hit or miss with me and his pension for being a tough guy in comedies but this time it worked in a big way, don't worry I won't spoil it, it's too good.  

While 22 Jump Street is filled with jokes at it's own expense, it doesn't completely rely on this entirely as it pulls out some fresh faced gags and humor too. As I mentioned earlier Channing Tatum is the picture of physically fit and that comes up time and again this time around as his character jump leaps and parkours his way all across every chase scene. At one point Schmidt gets extremely frustrated and retorts back about how he can't do that sort of thing, he isn't frickin Spiderman. Other comedy comes from the pure references made throughout the film, much like a comedy special Schmidt typically lets out a solid one liner in the defense of his otherwise lacking abilities and to try and save the failing relationship with his partner. Things aren't looking so well for the two this time around as Jenko begins to pull away from Schmidt and his friendship because of the overwhelming facts about them not having too much in common. This causes Schmidt to act like the clinging and unrelenting female role in which he litterally cries out for Jenko, this becomes even more hilarious when they experience a break-up type moment together and even go through a couples counseling scene on top of that. 

All in all, 22 Jump Street manages to still pull off charm and humor that is always hard to maintain in a sequel and a questionable sequel at that. I will say that it does sag at points such as the beginning where the movie itself needs to get established and other drawn out gags such as the gender bent fight scene near the end of the film. The overall humor saves it all though and as I said before I was pleasantly surprised with the increased role for past side characters such as Captain Dickson. As a final note as well I highly recommend staying for the credits before walking out at the end, much like a Marvel movie you'll be happy when you see the witty end credits for 22 Jump Street. 

Good:

- Tatum and Hill do it again in their oddly mismatched partnership

- Meta comedy about the past film along with new solid one liners

- Side characters break out and make more of a better role

- End credit scene

Bad:

- Drawn out fight scene near the end

- Some recycled humor

Scully Rating: 7.5 out of 10 

The Wolf of Wall Street

By: Robert Murphy 

In the world of bankers and the upper snooty branches of society, you have to have a certain swagger in order to mix in their kind of circles and The Wolf of Wall Street is all about that kind of lifestyle. The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio who takes on the role of Jordan Belfort, a man who sleazed his way to fame and fortune in the 1980’s and 90’s by making his own financial firm. We see DiCaprio portray a man who sets out on a path much like something out of Scarface as he comes from nothing and makes a name for himself but it soon spirals out of control in a mix of drugs, sex and alcohol. He and his would be band of stock broking con men will live it up until the curtain draws in a truly great film that will make you trust investment guys even less.

The film starts out with Belfort starting out in humble beginnings; he had a good and honest woman who loved him, a straight laced look and a love for Wall Street like no one else. He is taken under the wing of a character played by Matthew McConaughey, a man who is at the top of the earnings board at his job at a blue chip firm and quickly he learns the ropes on his secrets to being a top investment banker. This method mainly involved, sleaziness, drugs (to center yourself) and lying through your teeth to your clients, selling them the gold at the end of the rainbow but knowing the whole time it’s an illusion. But before Belfort can put his feet in the water as a fully licensed investor the stock market crashes and he is out of the job. 

From this point, we meet the more infamous Belfort as he reinvents himself and makes his own company with friends from his old neighborhood that look like people you wouldn’t trust with 15 cents let alone thousands of your hard earned cash. His new company, Stratton Oakmont, becomes famous in the investment world and rapidly becomes successful. But this is because Belfort and his gang of miscreants lie and push worthless stock on people that they make money off of through the commissions, all the while knowing that the stocks won’t amount to anything. This is where it all starts to fall apart for Belfort, especially with his new best friend Donnie Azoff, who is played by Jonah Hill, introduces him to an addiction just as gripping as investing, drugs. Belfort and all his friends will pop Quaaludes, snort cocaine, screw prostitutes, drink themselves into a stupor and do it all again the next day. 

At its core The Wolf of Wall Street is a story all about addiction, how it gripes you and never let’s go of you because it’s the only life you know and when you see the life that Belfort had you can see the appeal. Belfort got rich through underhanded means and had a life a lot of people dream of having, with a huge amazing home, an absolutely beautiful wife, fancy cars, fine suits and a 100ft mega yacht with so much more. Belfort reveled in the life he had and even when he has the chance to let it all go and knows that he should, he just cant because he loves what he does, he loved the admiration of all the people around him and he just couldn’t stop until he was forced to. 

I will say that this movie is not something for everyone since it has a large amount of behavior that you would consider quite revolting and make you question your reasons behind sitting through the whole film. But I truly enjoyed the film from beginning to end, DiCaprio gives a phenomenal performance once again and completely immersed himself in the role as Belfort, in all the crazy things he did. The only thing I can say negatively about The Wolf of Wall Street is that it is an extremely long film running at about 3 hours long and you will need to be geared up for a long hall when you watch it. 

Good:

- Leonardo DiCaprio gives an all star performance

- Its over the top in all the right ways

- A strong performance buy every character

- Lewd and dark humor that I myself enjoyed but others may not

Bad:

- Movie is exceedingly long

Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10

This Is the End

By: Robert Murphy

Now I’m going to start this review by saying, I usually don’t go and see a comedy movie in theaters, it’s nothing against comedies, I just get roped into seeing an action or scary movie when I go out but taking one look at “This Is the End” and I was hooked. Seth Rogan and James Franco have been together in a couple of films in recent years and each time I’ve seen them together, it is just pure gold to me and the actors themselves are grade A as well. Joining them in the film is an all-star class of comedy movie characters such as Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill and Danny McBride along with other big names that come to James Franco’s home in “This Is the End” for a huge party that they will all be talking about for the rest of their lives……for however long that may be. The party starts out well enough with all these stars playing as themselves like Emma Watson and Rihanna, all supposedly showing what they are all like off the screen, then things go wrong as things begin to erupt and the sky lights up with fire and it’s clear that the end of the days has finally come.

 These guys would not be my pick for an apocalypse team

A big appeal for me in this film right off the get go is the fact that all these stars are playing themselves and I love when a movie does this sort of thing, actors acting about being actors in a movie just tickles me because it makes you question, is this what these people are really like? This also adds to the fact that hey these guys and girls are regular people, they party, and they can be jerks or a bunch of people sitting around talking about life and playing video games in their spare time. This all is erupting in a powder keg of comedy and epicness at James Franco’s party in his incredible bachelor pad I might add and just when you’re starting to enjoy yourself, boop the world comes to end. People are being wrapped up in blue lights and carried off into the sky, being saved and raptured to Heaven while the rest are left panicking and being dragged down into the depths of the Earth in giant holes and so on. It’s all written in that book, you’ve read the book I’m sure, you know that book that’s in every hotel room still, starts with a B…..ahh damn it’ll come to me, anyway all that is going down and it ain’t pretty. Before long all that is left from this party are five guys, Rogan, Baruchel, Franco, Hill and Robinson, the three are left to survive and defend themselves at what this new world that is left after the rapture has brought them and these five comedians are not what you’d call end of the world survival material.

 Emma Watson to the rescue... or not

Now even though the world has collapsed and lawless/chaos are about to become an everyday occurrence, that isn’t even the main part of the story, what “This Is the End” becomes is a sort of “Big Brother” type affair. Each of the five all do hidden confessionals during the film to get what they’re feeling about their whole situation out there for all of us to see and it feels a lot like what you’d expect these comedians to say to each off camera. It is all completely raw and obscene but in the right way that doesn’t overdo it and while it feels all warm and funny, just a bunch of comedians and funny people hanging out together like something right out of the movie “Grown Ups,” there is back stabbing and self-absorption among the stars that takes over. Oh hey right the world ended or something I thought? Often times during the movie I forgot about the fact that it happened because of laughing so hard, “This Is the End” just digs into the personal life of these stars and continues your questions on this being who these people actually are.

 Some “Big Brother” confessionals

“This Is the End” gave me a huge amount of laughs in a dirty/hardcore way that I haven’t laughed at in a while and if anybody were to make it happen again it would be this cast of characters right here. Franco, Rogan, Hill, Baruchel and McBride are all at the top of their games with the laughs just pouring in as it delves into their supposed personal lives and what these guys are actually like outside the big screen…..while being on the big screen at the same time. Also there is a great cast of other famous celebrities included in the film like Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Kevin Heart, Aziz Anasari, Michael Cera and many more and while they’re not part of the movie for long, they make great additions to the film and add to the laughs as well. It was also refreshing to know that some people in Hollywood would actually be raptured up to Heaven and that is heartwarming in a way but then again it was only a few people.

Good:

-Amazing main and supporting cast

-A great level of raunchy and raw laughs

-Makes you question if this is what these people are truly like

Bad:

-There are those too far moments for certain people

Scully Rating: 8.8 out of 10